British Weight Lifting is undertaking a major overhaul of the competition programme for Olympic weightlifting to increase competitive opportunities to lifters of all ages and to incorporate the new bodyweight categories proposed by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

British Weight Lifting is undertaking a major overhaul of the competition programme for Olympic weightlifting to increase competitive opportunities to lifters of all ages and to incorporate the new bodyweight categories proposed by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

Headline Changes

Adoption of new bodyweight categories in all age groups

New qualification process for British and English Senior Championships

Revised British and English competition programme

Updated qualification totals and record standards

New Bodyweight Categories

On Monday 1st October 2018 the new bodyweight categories proposed by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) will be adopted by British Weight Lifting for use at British and English competitions. The new IWF categories will apply to Masters, Senior, Under 23, Under 20, Under 17 and Under 15 age groups.

Male Categories

Masters

Senior

Under 23

Under 20

Under 17

Under 15

Under 12

Under 10

55

55

55

55

49

49

45

40

61

61*

61

61

55

55

49

45

67

67*

67

67

61

61

55

49

73

73*

73

73

67

67

61

55

81

81*

81

81

73

73

67

61

89

89

89

89

81

81

73

67

96

96*

96

96

89

89

81

73

102

102

102

102

96

96

89

81

109

109*

109

109

102

102

96

89

109+

109+*

109+

109+

102+

102+

96+

89+

Female Categories

Masters

Senior

Under 23

Under 20

Under 17

Under 15

Under 12

Under 10

45

45

45

45

40

40

35

30

49

49*

49

49

45

45

40

35

55

55*

55

55

49

49

45

40

59

59*

59

59

55

55

49

45

64

64*

64

64

59

59

55

49

71

71

71

71

64

64

59

55

76

76*

76

76

71

71

64

59

81

81

81

81

76

76

71

64

87

87*

87

87

81

81

76

71

87+

87+*

87+

87+

81+

81+

76+

71+

In addition to the IWF bodyweight categories, new bodyweight categories proposed by BWL will be adopted at Under 12 and Under 10 age groups.

Categories marked with an asterisk * have been chosen by the IWF to feature at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. BWL will use all the new categories in every competition unless specifically stated otherwise.

The new bodyweight categories will come into effect at different times throughout the United Kingdom:

Britain 1st October 2018

England 1st October 2018

Wales 12th October 2018

Scotland 1st November 2018

Northern Ireland 1st November 2018

New Qualification Procedures

British Senior Championships

A new 2-stage qualification process will come into effect immediately for the British Senior Championships.

Stage 1 – Achieve minimum qualification standard

Stage 2 – Achieve top 7 national ranking OR be defending British Champion

Stage 1 and 2 must both be completed within a specified qualification window.

The British Senior Championships will now feature a maximum of 8 lifters per bodyweight category, made up of the defending British Champion, and the 7 highest ranked lifters on the BWL ranking lists. If any lifter declines their place in the competition the next eligible lifter will be offered a place.

The qualification window for the 2019 British Senior Championships will start on 1st October 2018, the window will close on 30th April 2019.

English Senior Championships

A new 2-stage qualification process will come into effect for the English Senior Championships, AFTER THE JANUARY 2019 EDITION OF THE EVENT.

Stage 1 – Achieve minimum qualification standard

Stage 2 – Achieve top 15 national ranking OR be defending British Champion

Stage 1 and 2 must both be completed within a specified qualification window.

The English Senior Championships will now feature a maximum of 16 lifters per bodyweight category, made up of the defending English Champion, and the 15 highest ranked lifters on the BWL ranking lists. If any lifter declines their place in the competition the next eligible lifter will be offered a place.

The January 2019 edition of the English Championships will use the traditional qualification process whereby any English lifter who has achieved the qualification total within the previous 12 months, or at the last English Championships can enter. Results from competition using the old bodyweight categories will be accepted if they were achieved at a BWL registered event within the previous 12 months.

Other competitions

The qualification process for the following events will not change. To enter lifters must achieve a qualification total within a specified time period. Any entry limits will be announced on a case-by-case basis:

British Masters Championships

British Age Group (U15 – U23) Championships

British University & College Championships

English Masters Championships

English Age Group (U10 – U23) Championships

The British Development Open and English Development Open will have no qualification standards, lifters with a valid BWL membership who meet the age group criteria will be eligible to compete. Any entry limits will be announced on a case-by-case basis.

Updated competition programme

The annual competition offer has been extended both at British and English levels to provide more opportunities to lifters of every age to compete throughout the year.

British Competitions

British Senior Championships – including the British Masters Championships and British Development Open

British University and College Championships

British Age Group (U15 – U23) Championships

English Competitions

English Senior Championships – including the English Masters Championships and English Development Open

English Age Group (U10 – U23) Championships

After the January 2019 English Senior Championships, this event will move into December each calendar year. This means there will be 2 x English Senior Championships in 2019, one taking place in January and another in December. Following this the next English Championships will take place in December 2020.

Qualification standards and records

Qualification standards

Following the introduction of the new bodyweight categories BWL has completed a statistical analysis of current lifting standards to calculate qualification standards for all age groups and bodyweight categories. These totals will be subject to an annual review and can be found on the BWL website.

Records

Based on a review of active lifters in each of the new bodyweight categories BWL has proposed British Standards for each bodyweight category and age group. The British Standard must be beaten to set a record, equalling a record standard does not set a record.

English Records are Championship record, they can only be set by English lifters competing at the English Senior or Age Group Championships respectively. These records will be updated after the completion of each competition.

The records for the old bodyweight categories will be held by BWL and available to view on the BWL website.